2 Core CPI inflation has not changed much

Because inflation is driven by both structural and seasonal factors, economists often look at various components of the inflation basket. One of the most common and useful differentiations while analysing inflation is to look at its core and non-core components. Core inflation measures the non-food, non-fuel part of the CPI basket. Food and fuel prices have a bigger seasonal component. A slightly long-term look at the trajectory of core and non-core components of the CPI basket shows that the latter has been a major driver of changes in the headline inflation number even as core inflation has remained relatively sticky and closer to the 6% mark. Data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that core CPI declined marginally from 6.21% in September to 6.14% in October, whereas non-core inflation saw a bigger moderation from 8.87% in September to 7.44% in October.